Method and apparatus for combining wrappers and bands for cigars



A. w. KATH 2,061,968

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMBINING WRAPPERS AND. BANDS FOR CIGARS Nov. 24, 1936.

Filed Marh 27, 1933 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 A. W. KATH Nov. 24, 1936.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GOMBINING WRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR CIGARS Filed Mairch 27, 1933 9 Sheets-Sheet 2 Nov. 24, 193s. A. w. KATH 2,061,968

METHOD AND PPARATUS FOR COMBINING WRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR CIGARS Filed' March 27, 1955 9 ShVeetS-Sheet l wfemwm il@ f www@ MWA/1494 .,Nov. 24, 1936. A, W KATH 2,061,968

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMBINING WRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR CIGARS l Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed March 27, 1935 Nov, 24, 1936.

METHOD AND APPARATUS A. W. KATH 2,06L968 FOR COMBINING WRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR CIGARS Filed March 27, 1955 9 sheets-sheet 5 A. W. KATH Nov. 24, 1936.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMBINING WRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR C-IGARS Filed March 2'7, 1935 NGV. A W KATH. D

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMBINING WRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR CIGAR Filed March 27, 1933 Sheets-Shea*l 7 www4/5.0

A. W. KATH METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMBINING WRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR CIGARS 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed MarchV 27, 1933 Nov. 24, 1936. A. w. KATH 2,061,968

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMBININGWRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR CIGARS Filed March 27, 1933 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Patented Nov. 24, 1936 UNITED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COMBINING WRAPPERS AND BANDS FOR CIGARS Alfred W. Kath, Detroit, Mich., assignor to Arthur Colton Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application March 27,

7 Claims.

The invention relates to the art ofA banding and wrapping cigars and more particularly to the application of transparent wrappers to cigars through which the bands are visible. For many ,5 years it has been customary to apply to certain grades of cigars ornamental label bands. 'I'hese are wrapped around the cigar body and have gummed overlapping ends attached to each other. Before using the cigar the band is slipped oil" l but ithas been found that frequently in removing the band the outer leaf of the cigar'is injured. Cigars have also been protected by various forms of wrappers and in recent years it has been customary to use transparent Wrappers of the material commercially known as cellophane. The label band is plainly visible through this transparent Wrapper which thus forms a protection for the band as well as for the cigar. It has, however, been customary to apply the bands and wrappers separately and by the operation of different machines.

It is the primary object of the invention to simplify the process by the simultaneous application of the band and wrapper to the cigar.

Z5 It is a further object to locate the band in the usual position surrounding the cigar body but witho-ut attachment of the ends to each other or to the outer leaf of the cigar. Still further it is an object of the invention to dispense with the use of a separate banding machine and to perform all of the operations by a single unit. With these objects in View the invention consists,

First, in the novel construction of a combined wrapper and band adapted for application to the cigar by the usual operation of a cigar wrapping machine;

Second, the method of forming the Wrapper and applying the band thereto;

Third, the mechanism by which this method is automatically performed;

Fourth, the novel package in which the cigar is surrounded by a transparent wrapper with a band inside the wrapper, visible therethrough and located in the usual position around the cigar 5 body Without independent attachment thereto.

My combined Wrapper and band may be applied to the cigars by any suitable construction of wrapping machine and it is therefore unnecessary to illustrate and describe such machine or the operation thereof. It is, however, essential that the band should be accurately located with respect to the wrapper and so attached thereto that the ornamental face will be in contact with the inner face of the transparent wrapper. It

is also important that the wrapper should be 1933, Serial No. 663,079

(Cl. 21S-155) cut from the cellophane strip so that the grain of the material extends longitudinally of the cigar, while the band extends transversely to the grain. As cellophanefis transparent the grain is scarcely visible, but it is nevertheless a fact that there is a greater tendency for the material to wrinkle transversely of the grain than longitudinally thereof, so that a better quality of wrapper is produced with the grain extending longitudinally of the cigar.

The mechanism for forming the wrappers and applying the bands thereto may if desired be rincorporated in the construction of the wrapping machine, or it may be formed as a separate unit attached to and ,timed with the wrapping mechanism. I shall thereforev illustrate and specifically describe only the means for forming the wrapper with the band attached thereto, ready for delivery to the Wrapping mechanism and will indicate diagrammatically the subsequent operations of Wrapping the cigar without illustration of the mechanism through which they are performed.

' In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan View of o-ne construction of machine for forming the wrapper and applying the band thereto;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the left end of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is an elevation of the opposite side of the machine from that yshown in Fig. 2;

Figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, l1, 12, and 13 are diagrams illustrating the Wrapping of the cigar with the combined wrapper and band;

Fig. 14 is a plan of the complete package;

Fig. 15 is a plan view of a modiiied construction of machine;

Fig. 16 is an end elevation thereof;

Fig. 17 is a side elevation;

Fig. 18 is a section on line l8|8 of Fig. 15;

Fig. 19 is a similar View showing the parts in a different position of adjustment;

Fig. 20 is a section on line 20-20 of Fig. l5;

Fig. 21 is a section on line 2i-2l of Fig. 15;

Fig. 22 is a section on line 22-22 of Fig. 15;

Figs. 23 to 30 inclusive are diagrams illustrating the operation.

Band. handling mechanism As illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 I show one embodiment of my invention in which I is a suitable frame preferably part of the frame of the wrapping machine; 2 is a holder for a stack of bands arranged at the outer end of the frame I and provided with a follower 3 for feeding the bands upward in said holder actuated by a weight 4, iiexible cord 5, drum 6, gear wheel 1 and rack bar 8 on the shank of the follower. The bands are placed in the stack with .the ornamental face downward and at the upper end of the holder are retained from accidental displacement by knife edged blades 9 which cut into the opposite ends of the upper bands in the stack and frictionally resist movement thereof. Adjacent to the holder 2 there is supported upon the frame I a tank I0 for holding a liquid adhesive and within this tank is a rotary-.adhesive applier II. I2 is a suction head which is mounted on a carriage I3 slidable in guideways I4 upon the frame I, said carriage being reciprocated to move the head I2 from a position in registration with the holder 2 to a position where it is above a table I5 on the frame. This table is adapted to receive the cellophane wrapper by mechanism hereinafter described, and the arrangement is such that the suction head I2 will remove a band from the top of the stack and transfer it to a position above the table. It is necessary, however, to raise the suction head after itis contacted with the'upper band so as to lift the latter to clear the holder, and at the opposite end of the movement of the carriage to lower the head and press the band in contact with the wrapper. It is further necessary to apply adhesive to the opposite ends of the band while it is passing over the tank I0 so that when pressed upon the wrapper it will adhere thereto. These various operations are performed by mechanism of the following construction:

The carriage I2 is actuated by a rod I6 which is operated by mechanism timed with the mechanism of the wrapping machine. I have illustrated this mechanism as including a rack bar I 1 connected to the rod I6 which is in mesh with a pinion I8 mounted on the frame, said pinion being rotated by a second pinion vI9 of smaller diameter actuated by a rack bar`20 which in turn is actuated by a cam 2l. This cam which is incorporated in the mechanism of the wrapping machine is adapted to make one revolution for each cycle of said machine and is fashioned to impart a reciprocating motion to the rack 2U during a portion of this cycle. This imparts a reciprocating movement of greater amplitude and faster speed to the rack bar I1 which through the rod I6 communicates similar movement to the carriage I3,

The vertical movement of the suction head I2 is effected by slidably mounting the same in a bearing 22 on'the carriage I3 and providing a rack shank 23 which is engaged by a gear segment 24 on a rock shaft 25, all of which parts are mounted on the carriage. The rock shaft 25 has a forked rock arm 26 thereon extending oppositely from the gear segment '24 and slidably engaging a rod 21 extending parallel to the guideways I4. The rod 21 forms a part of the rockable frame mounted on the guideways I4 and including a rock shaft 28 and rock arms 29 at opposite ends thereof. One of these rock arms is oscillated by a rod 30 whichengages a cam 3I on a rotatable shaft 32 which is driven from the wrapping machine by mechanism (not shown) that imparts a single rotation .to the shaft for each cycle of said wrapping machine. Thusby suitably fashioning the cam 3I the rod 21 is raised and lowered at certain points in the 'cycle and is timed with the reciprocation of the carriage I3 so that the suction head will be lowered into contact with the band when it is in registration with the holder 2; will then be raised to detach a band from the stack, and while in this raised position will be moved with the carriage to a position over the table I5 and will then be lowered to press the band in contact with the wrapper on said table.

During transit from one position to the other, the band is carried over the tank Ill and has adhesive applied thereto by the member II. This member is in the form of a star wheel having a plurality of blades 33 and the lower members of which are beneath the fluid adhesive while the upper member stands in the path of the band. The suction head I2 engages the central portion of the band, leaving the end portions projecting beyond the opposite sides of the head, which end portions contact with the ends of the upstanding blades 33 and have adhesive carried by said-blade applied thereto. The contacting portions of the blades are moved at the same speed that the band is moved by the suction head, this being effected by the rotation of the member II. Such actuation is caused by a pin 34 projecting laterally from the head I2 and engaging a forkedarm 35 pivoted on the shaft of the member I I. This arm 35 has a pawl 36 engaging a ratchet wheel 31 on the 'shaft of the member II, the arrangement being suchthat thereciprocation of the head I2 will cause -arocking movement of the forked arm 35 which when the head is carrying the band over the tank I6 will rotate the member I I and blades 33 through the medium of the pawl 36 and ratchet wheel 31. This applies the adhesive to the band while during the return movement of the head the arm 35 onlyis actuated, the pawl-being moved into engagement with another tooth of the ratchet wheel.

Wrapper forming mechanism The cellophane stock from which `the wrappers are formed is a rolled strip with the grain running longitudinally thereof. The roll 38 is `mounted on an arm 39 depending from the frame YI and vtheend of the strip'passes upward therefrom-over a roll 40 to a perforated hollow feed drum 4I. This drum is intermittentlydriven in Athe direction of the arrow through the medium of a shaft l42, a pinion v43 on said shaft, and -a gear wheel 44 in mesh with said pinion. The vgear wheel is intermittently actuated by a ratchet wheel S45 operated by a lever 46 connected by a link '41 with a. rod 48. This rod in turn is actuated from the mechanism of the wrapping machine which is diagrammatically illustrated as a cam 49. Thus the motion imparted by this cam to the mechanism described will give an .intermittent rotary movement to the perforated Ahollow drum 4I, and the amount of this movement is determined by the connection between the link 41 and the lever 46. This lever is slotted -so as to permit adjustment of the pivotal connection 46a to the link outward or inward thereon, thereby diminishing or increasing the amplitude of each intermittent movement of the hollow roll.

Within the hollow feed drum 4I is a hollow head 50 having a portion of its periphery 5I!a in contact with the inner wall of the drum while another portion 5I is spaced from-said inner wall to form a segmental air chamber 52 therebetween. This chamber is connected with a source of vacuum so that when the cellophane strip isfed from the roll 38 in contact with thedrum 4I, the perforations in said drum communicating with the chamber 52 will hold the cellophane strip in frictional contact with the peripheral face. The table I is arranged tangent to the drum 4I in the portion thereof which is in contact with the head 50. This cuts off the suction from the cellophane strip before it reaches the table I5 and permits it to be fed over said table into the position where the band is to be applied thereto.

Severing and delivery mechanism To sever the wrapper from the cellophane strip, shears 53 are arranged to operate through a slot in the table I5. These shears are actuated from the shaft 32 by a cam 54 engaging one of the shear blades and the timing is such that when the band is being pressed down upon the cellophane strip on the table I5 by the suction head I2, the shears will be operated to sever the strip `in advance of the suctio-n head. The succeeding feeding operation of the strip by the hollow drum 4I will advance the portion of the strip to which the band has just been attached over a feed roll 54a whereupon a succeeding operation of the shears will sever the wrapper with the attached band from the strip. This completes the operations of forming the wrapper with the attach-ed band and the handling of the wrapper from this point depends upon the specific character of wrapping machine to which my improved mechanism is applied. As illustrated in Figs. 1 to 4, the severed wrapper with the band attached thereto is reversed in position so as to place the band on the under side, this being accomplished by a. segmental drum 55 arranged above the feed roll 5IIa and the wrapper resting thereon. The segmental drum 55 has a suctio-n head 56 which when suction is applied will cause the rear end portion of the wrapper to adher-e thereto. The drum 55 is then rolled over the table I5 to complete a half revolution which reverses the wrapper and raises it to a higher plane from which it is delivered to the wrapping mechanism. This vmovement of the drum is effected by mounting its shaft 51 in a carriage 58 slidable in ways 59. A gear 60 having a pitched diameter the same as the circumference of the drum is also mounted on the shaft 51 and engages a stationary rack 6I. The carriage 58 is also connected to a rod 62 having a rack portion 62a which engages the pinion IB on the diametrically opposite side thereof from the point of engagement of the rack bar I1. Thus the rotation of the pinion I8 under actuation of the gear wheel I9, rack bar 2D and cam 2|, as previously described, not only actuates the rack bar I1 to move the carriage I3 and suction head I2, but also simultaneously actuates the rack bar 62 and carriage 58, while'the stationary rack 6I engaging the gear wheel G0 rotates the drum 55 as previously described.

Complete operation It will be understood that the mechanism above described is associated with and timed in relation to the operation of theV wrapping machine (not shown) which, however, is diagrammatically illustrated in Figs. 6 to 14 and performs the following operations:

The wrapper 63 with the band 83EL attached thereto and upon the under side thereof, is delivered above a cigar I3b in the wrapping machine. 'I'he cigar and wrapper are then raised upward by .an elevator 64 between a pair of jaws 65 which bends the wrapper into a U-shaped form. The depending portions of the wrapper are then tucked beneath the cigar as shown in Figs. 8 and 9 to form a tube after which the ends of the tube are tucked and folded as shown in Figs. 10, to 13. Sealing is effected by passing the overlapped portions of the wrap-per in contact with a heating means (not shown) which softens the wax coating of the cellophane which acts as 4an adhesive. Thus in the complete packagev showrf in Fig. 14 the band (i3ab surrounds the body of the cigar within the wrapper B3 and the ornamental face of the band is plainly visible through the wrapper.

M odified construction In Figs. 15 to 22 `a modified construction is illustrated which performs essentially the same functions through different mechanism.

Band applying mechanism In this construction the bands are in a holder A which is mounted upon a frame B and is held in inclined position to deliver the bands at its lower end. C is a suction head mounted on. a rock shaft C which is above a tank D containing the adhesive uid, C2 is a gear segment on the 4shaft C which is engaged by a rack bar C3 vertically slidable in guideways C4 and actuated by an eccentric C5 on a shaft E. Upon the shaft C is a gear wheel F which intermeshes with a gear wheel F on a shaft F2 below and parallel to the shaft C'. The shaft F2 has mounted thereon spaced arms F3 terminating in upwardly extending hooked lingers F4 which are normally immersed in the liquid adhesive within the tank D. The arrangement is such that the movement of the rack bar C? will partially rotate the shaft C' in one direction and simultaneously rotate the shaft F2 in the opposite direction. Thus when the rack bar C3 is moved downward the suction head C is rocked upward into an inclined position (Fig. 18) where it contacts with the lowerrnost band in the holder A, while the movement of the rack bar C3 in an upward direction will rock the suction head C downward to a substantially horizontal position above the tank D (Fig. 19). Simultaneously with the upward movement of the suction head C the fingers F4 on the arms F3 .are moved downward into the adhesive fluid while during the downward movement of the suction head carrying the band thereon the fingers F4 will be moved upward and these fingers are so positioned as to pass upward on opposite ends of the suction head and contact with projecting end portions of the band (Fig. 26). Thus the adhesive which is on the end of the ngers will be applied to the lower face of the band (which is the ornamental face) and without danger of smearing any other parts of the mechanism.

a Arranged parallel to the shaft C .and in substantially the same horizontal plane is a shaft G. This is actuated from the shaft C through the medium of gear segments G and G2 respectively on the shaft C and G. G3 is a suction head mounted upon the shaft G. The radius of the gear segment G is greater than that of the lgear segment G2 so that the rotation of the shaft C' through an angle of 60 will impart to the shaft G a rotation of 180. This will cause the suction head G3 to move from an upward facing position to a downward facing position in contact with the suction head C when. the latter is in horizontal position, thereby permitting the trans- -fer of the band to which the .adhesive has been applied and reversing its position so that-the adhesive is then upon the upper face.

Wrapper feeding mechanism The cellophane for the wrappers is in the `form of a rolled strip as previously described, which is mounted on a reel H above the frame B. From this reel the strip passes around idler .rolls H and between feed rolls H2 .and then horizontally through guides B over a table B2. The feeding of the strip is effected by said feed rolls in conjunctio-n with a :reciprocating suction head I which engages the portion of the strip in the guides B' and draws it over the table a sufficient distance for the length of a wrapper. .Shears J are arranged-in a slot inthe table and are operated to sever thefstrip after advancement of the same by the suction head I.

Transfer means .In the ,portion of the table B2 over4 which the strip is advanced there is `arranged a suction `head K which engages a recess in the table. This table is adapted to be raised and lowered by mounting the same on a rockable frame K' to Vwhich is connected a rod K2 actuated by a cam SK3 on the shaft E. The suction head K is vpivotally mounted at K4 on the .frame K and is provided with an oppositely extending arm K5 which in the raised position of the table contacts with a stop K6 to hold said suction head in alignvment with the table. The suction head K is also aligned transversely of the direction of advancement of the strip with the suction head G3 when the latter .is in its up-facing `position and after reversing the band carried thereby. The band is transferred from the suction head G3 to the suction head K by a carrier member L which also .isprovided with a suction head L alternately vregistering with said suction heads G3 and K. This carrier .member L is supported upon parallelly arranged rock arms M and M mounted on rock shafts M2 and M3 land the arrangement is such that the rocking of said shafts through :an angle of 180 will move the suction head L through an arcuate path from its position in registration with the suction head G3 to its position in registration with the suction head K. This will cause the lifting of the band off the former and transfer it to the latter, .it being understood that in all of these transfer operations by suction heads the suction on the one head is relieved prior to the removal of the band therefrom by another head. The carrier L has another suction head L2 so positioned thereon that when the suction head L is registering with the suction head G3, the suction head L2 is registering with the portion of the table B2 over which ythe cellophane strip is yadvanced by the vreciprocating suction head I. The timing .of the .movement of these parts is such that when the suction head L' has transferred the band into registration with the suction head K, the latter will be raised by the cam K3 into contact with 4said head L', and that while the suction head L' is moved back into registration withtheyhead G3, the suction head K will be lowered to be out of the path of the advancing cellophane strip. The advancement of this strip by the reciproleating suction head I is completed by the time that the suction head L2 is registered with the strip at which time the suction head K `is again raised, pressing the band with its adhesive coated ends against the under side of the cellophane and the head L2. .Thus the band will be affixed to the wrapper which is severed from the strip by the shears J and during the next transfer movement of the carrier both wrapper and attached band will be removed from the table B2 to a position for handling by the wrapping mechanism. As this wrapping mechanism differs indifferent machines to which my improvement maybe applied and as the operations have already been briefly described, further description is unnecessary. l

Operaing mechanism .The various instrumentalities above described are all voperated improperly timed relation by a common mechanism of the following con,

struction:

On the frame B below the level of the table B2 are mounted the shafts E and E previously described, which extend in transverse directions to each other and are connected through the medium of bevel gear wheels E2, E3 to run at the same angular speed. The shaft E has at its outer end a crank E4 which is connected by a rod N to a rock arm N on a rock shaft N2 arranged parallel to and Ain the vertical plane of the shaft M2. A vgear-segment N3 is mounted on the shaft N2 and is in mesh with a pinion M4 on the shaft M2 so that the rotation ofthe crank E4 through the medium of the rod N, rock arm N', shaft N2,

gear segment N3 and pinion M4 will rock the ment N5 meshing with a gear wheel M5 on the shaft M3. Thus the oscillating movement of the carrier L previously described is obtained by this mechanism.

The shears J are actuated through the medium of toggle links J connected to bell crank arms l The J2 at the rear end of each shear blade. connection between these toggle links J is formed by a pivot pin J3 at the outer end of a lever J4 which is fulcrurned 4on the frame and has its .lower end-engaging a cam E5 on the shaft E.

This cam is so fashioned and timed as to quickly operate the shares after the cellophane has been advanced-tothe position lfor receiving the band, thereby severing the wrapper from the remainder of the strip.

The shaft E has mounted thereon the cam .K3 which as previously described actuates the link vK2 to raise and lower the table B2 and suction head K. In alignment with the shaft E and also driven through bevel gear wheels E6 is l a shaft E7 having mounted thereon a series of cams O, O', etc., which control valves for the various suction heads. Thus the suction is communicated to the several heads at the proper time so as to permit them to function as previously described.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. The process of making cigar wrappers consisting in .bringing a transparent cigar wrapper and a cigar band in intimate contact with the colored face of the cigar band directed toward the transparent wrapper, with spaced spots of adhesive between `them to secure the band to the wrapper, and applying pressure to adhesive- Ily attach the band to the Wrapper.

-2. The combination with means 4for feeding wrappers to a cigar wrapping machine, ofv `a `holder for a stack of bands, means for successivelyremoving bands from said stack, transferring Vthe same into predetermined registration with said wrappers with the face side of the band adjacent to the wrapper and pressed thereagainst, and means for applying adhesive to portions of the surface of said band during transit.

3. The combination with means for intermittently feeding a strip of wrapping material, of a holder for a stack of bands, means for successively removing bands from said stack and transferring the same to a position extending transversely of the strip with the face side of the band adjacent to and pressed into contact with said strip while the latter is stationary, means for applying adhesive to portions of the face side of said band during transit, and means for severing a wrapper from said strip with an adhering band in predetermined relation thereto.

4. 'Ihe combination with means for intermittently advancing a strip of wrapping material, of a holder for a stack of bands, a receptacle for adhesive, means for successively removing wrappers from said stack and transferring the same face side downward above said receptacle, one or more oscillatory iingers for alternately dipping into the adhesive in said receptacle and for contacting with the face of said band to apply adhesive thereto, means for transferring the adhesive coated band to a position extending transversely of said strip and pressed in contact therewith while said strip is stationary, and means for severing said strip to form individual wrappers with the band aflixed thereto in a predetermined position.

5. The combination with means for intermittently advancing a strip of wrapping material, of a holder for a stack of bands, a receptacle for adhesive, an oscillatory suction head for successively removing bands from said holder and holding the same above said receptacle with the face side downward, one or more oscillatory fingers for alternately dipping in the adhesive and applying the same to the band while held above said receptacle, and means for removing the band from said suction means and transferring the same to a position extending transversely of said strip while the latter is stationary and pressed into contact therewith, and means for severing the strip to form individual wrappers with the adhering band in predetermined position thereon.

6. The combination with means for intermittently advancing a strip of wrapping material, of a holder for a stack of bands, a receptacle for adhesive, an oscillatory suction head for successively removing bands from said stack and holding the same above said receptacle with the face side downward, one or more oscillatory fingers for alternately dipping in said adhesive and applying the Same to said band, an oscillatory suction head forremoving the band from said rst mentioned suction head and for reversing the position of the same to face upward, band holding means adjacent to the path of said intermittently advancing strip of wrapping material, transfer means for the band from said reversing suction head to said holding means during the interval when said strip is stationary, meansoperating after the advancementof said strip to press the adhesive coated band into contact therewith and means for severing the strip with the adhering band in predetermined position thereon.

'7. The combination with means for intermittently advancing a strip of transparent wrapping material, of a table over which said strip is fed, means for periodically raising and lowering said table, a band holding suction head on said table, a holder for a stack of bands, a receptacle for adhesive, an oscillatory suction head for successively removing bands from said stack and holding the same face downward above said tank, one or more oscillatory fingers for alternately dipping into the adhesive and applying the same to portions of said band, an oscillatory suction head for removing the band from said rst suction head and for reversing the same to face upward, means for transferring the band from the latter suction head to the suction head on said table, timing mechanism whereby the ban-d engaging said table suction head is lowered out of the path of said wrapper strip during the advancement of the same and is raised and pressed into contact with said strip while stationary, and severing means for cutting a wrapper from said strip with the band in predetermined position thereon.

ALFRED W. KATH. 

